WOW! HYP are too far away!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>USC should be a good bet for you. Not a technical safety, but a very good bet, with a shot for merit aid (although I don't know how this works with int'l students). This stands out to me as the most obvious addition to your list (diverse, SoCal, good technical programs & engineering, plenty of beer, lots of attractive girls, good school with a thriving social scene).</p>

<p>I'd also recommend looking into the Claremont Colleges. Pomona and Harvey Mudd might be of particular interest (not safeties). </p>

<p>California safeties for someone with your record...perhaps you should look into the next tier of UC's (UCSD, UCI, UCD...the value for an out-of-stater is debatable), Occidental, maybe USF. Other options would include Univ. of the Pacific, Loyola Marymount, St. Mary's, Univ. of the Redlands, USD, and Chapman (to name just a few), but I think you should be aiming higher (which isn't to say that these aren't all good schools).</p>

<p>It's hard to suggest schools without knowing what you're looking for. What kind of environment suits you (size, weather, student body "personality," campus atmosphere, social scene), what areas of study are you interested in? Are you interested in California because of the weather, a certain stereotype, or just...because? If it's weather, then you can expand your search into the south and southeast (perhaps Rice, Vanderbilt, Emory...just tossing some random names out there).</p>

<p>Your list, as you know, is very reachy. Not only does it need to be balanced out, but it definitely needs to be trimmed. Right now, it looks a bit like you took the names of some top universities, tossed them into the air, and decided to apply to those that you caught. Good starting point, but try to zoom in a bit on what you're looking for!</p>

<p>Good luck :)</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot, Student 615, for you advice.Trimming and some more research is definitely what I need. Anything else??</p>

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<p>No way can you all be discouraging him from applying to top CA schools. He is international, and international seems like a whole different ballgame. He isn't just a random US korean (sorry, but there are a lot). He would bring up their international percentage, not just the asian percentage (which they don't care about because it is already high). </p>

<p>To the OP: Break down the stats at each school for international applicants. Maybe see if your school even has some specific stats on their applicants and acceptances. Really, there are plenty of CA schools, chlee, just go through a US News Rankings list to get an idea (don't take the numbers too seriously, but use it as a general "good schools" list). </p>

<p>Figure out what you want in a school. Stanford is very different than Harvard, and both very different than Pomona, and so on. Do you want a big school? Small? Do you care that you may not be taught by professors at a university for the first two years? Do you want to get away with sleeping in class or do you want more class discussions? Do you want a core, like at Columbia, or academic freedom, like at Brown? </p>

<p>Also, there are hot women in many states. Some schools are prettier than others...</p>

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<p>Thank you a lot for you point as well, frazzledmaybe. Now I gotta find some time to do all the research..ehwww</p>

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<p>Frazzled, I don't think anyone's discouraging the OP from applying to top schools. He asked for California safety suggestions, which Stanford, Pomona, etc. are not.</p>

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<p>What kind of universities would be a match for me? - as you might have guessed, I don't know that much about US colleges and stuff...</p>

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<p>It's really hard to get a safety for an international student. I'm assuming you're a Korean (and not American) citizen?</p>

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<p>I definitely am a Korean guy but I've been studying in Germany for past five years.. I thought my predicted 45 in IB would put me in a very advantageous position for getting into a good university but after having looked around this site, I can feel my hope rapidly diminishing - I mean, ***, why is everyone on this site so good?? yeah..whatever..any reccommendation on what I can do now?</p>

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<p>Actually, after all, universities are not what matters, I guess. I know what I want to do in my life and I know other ways to get there if not through Harvard and all other Ivies.</p>